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Q&A with Dosh re: Turf Club Tuesdays

First Avenue spoke with local multi-instrumentalist Dosh, best known for his work with Ghostband, The Cloak Ox, Andrew Bird, and his phenomenal solo performances. He will be hosting a Turf Club residency [on] Tuesdays in January of 2015.

First Avenue: You're no stranger to the First Ave venues, so can you tell us about your relationship to the Turf Club and why you'll be hosting your residency there?

Martin Dosh: I've been going to the Turf forever. JT's longstanding Monday night jazz implosion was one of the prime factors in my deciding to stay in the Twin Cities when I moved back from New York in '97. It's a community place, a local bar, a place where you always run into friends even if you go out alone! The only other place that I would even consider attempting this at would be the Entry.

FA: You've listed many high profile Twin Cities acts that may be special guests including Ryan Olson, Jeremy Ylvisaker and Andrew Broder-- is there anything in particular you're looking forward to the most?

Dosh: That's an impossible question to answer. I'm excited about all four shows. I figure there will be a few trainwrecks, and hopefully some moments of bliss. Each night is going to have a different vibe for sure. With Ryan and Andy on the first one, I’m sure it will be intense. The second week will be more acoustic-y, the third will be rap night and the last night will be way more electronic. I have all the players lined up, but I’m not going to announce the week’s lineup until the day after each show.

Anticon and Graveface Records presentThe House of Dosh A Month Long Residency/Recording Session

FA: Tell me about some of your favorite local shows you've seen this past year.

Dosh: I haven't gone out to many shows this year, unless I've played on them, and that being the case, I loved seeing Hardcore Crayons at the T Rock, and a killer band from Madison, Czarbles[,] on the same bill. The Doomtree night at Icehouse was insane. Coloring Time a few times at Icehouse was fab as well.

FA: This year you supported Sylvan Esso and Tune-Yards in sold out Mainroom shows, tell us about that and your relationships with those groups-- how differently do you approach an opening set as opposed to headlining?

Dosh: I've known Merril Garbus for a few years now. Saw her first show in the Entry however many years ago, and I was like, "Damn this girl is biting my shit!" I think her evolution from the looping thing to where she is at now, with her bass player Nate, is nothing short of astounding. She has way more charisma than I do, and she's just an all-around great person. When they asked me to do a few shows with them this summer, I was floored. The fact she mentioned me from the Mainroom stage and told her little story about me blew my mind. The Sylvan Esso dudes also asked me to open a few shows, and while I wasn't that familiar with their stuff, it worked out great. They blew the heck up, didn't they?

As far as opening and headlining, I’m not sure if that applies for this residency, as I'll have more collaborators than usual. Usually it's just Jeremy or Lew-dog. It's a giant risk, but I think it will make for some good entertainment. I'm going to have my usual setup: rhodes, drums, samplers and giant mixer. The whole thing is going to be recorded. I'm lucky to have dudes like Alex Proctor and Jay Perlman helping me out on that end. The month should yield 6-8 hours of material, which I will release for free online, or chop up and use for future Dosh records…

FA: Do you have any new material you are planning on trying out at the Turf shows, anything that specifically influenced you in 2014?

Dosh: I have tons of new material, some of which I will likely try out at these shows. My biggest influence of the year was playing and recording with Ghostband. My stuff had been moving in a more dance-oriented way before we started [']labbing, but I learned a lot working with him. Hopefully we will have some Dosh & Ghostband vinyl for sale on the last Tuesday of the month!

FA: Name some of your favorite new acts from the Twin Cities that caught your attention this year.

Dosh: Adept, Allan Kingdom, tiny deaths. And all the bands I play in :)

FA: Any local groups you are interested in working with in the upcoming year?

Dosh: All the usual, Cloak Ox, Tropical Depression; Dosh & Ghostband will release our follow-up LP on Anticon sometime in late spring, so that's pretty exciting... I recorded some music in September with Chris Thomson, Patrick Harison and James Buckley. I hope that stuff will get to see the light of day this year.

FA: Anything else you think we should know to prepare for your highly-anticipated Turf Club residency this month?

Dosh: I'm super happy that my friend Ryan Francesconi is coming out for the show on the 13th. He has been in Joanna Newsom's band for years and years, and he played a huge part in my last Dosh record on Anticon, Tommy. He is up for the challenge of these shows, and I would encourage folks to come check him out. He'll be doing a solo set at Icehouse the night before the Turf show, and his stuff is really amazing. In general, I'm just excited about the whole thing, I'm excited you guys asked me to do it, and I'm happy with all the response I got from all the players. It should be interesting to say the least.

Make sure to catch Dosh every Tuesday in January at the Turf Club, with special guests each week!